Dr. Bob Skankey, is no longer traveling to Niger but is still a very active board member of the Nomad Foundation. As he has done all his life, he is determined to improve people’s health. He has devised and financed a program to address one of the biggest killers in the region where we work–malaria. […]
Matrone training continued by local staff
We completed two missions: one at Tamesna conducted by Rabi our former medical director and one at Iferouane conducted by Assalama. 14 new traditional birth attendants have been trained and turned in their first annual reports. These reports showed no maternal mortalities in spite of several potentially critical conditions the matrones were able to address […]
Work in Mali
For many years we have worked in Mali to try to make a difference when its people are suffering from the violence of terrorist groups who have taken over much of the country. This work is directed by Charlene Pidgeon and our local representative in Mopti, Abdoulaye Diallo. Here is a letter he recently wrote […]
Friends running for Office
Niger elections are in full swing as we speak. We have among the candidates for regional and national offices–six friends running. Every one of them we have known and worked with for at least ten years. We are very proud that our work together has led to visibility that encouraged them to run. They are […]
Help for Iferouane Students, Artisans, Seamstresses and Matrones
Last year, when we visited the school in Iferouane, Niger where we had helped them repair the roof which had blown off, we found the kids doing their studies kneeling on the ground–they needed desks.
Mission 2020–The work goes on during the pandemic
We are all navigating the major disruptions in our lives that COVID-19 has brought. I hope you are all doing that successfully and in good health. Some of the necessary changes have not been all bad. We have been trying for many years to find a way for our programs to be completed entirely by […]
COVID-19 mission to the nomads
The population of nomads we work with is very isolated, but they must on occasion visit a crowded market to do their shopping. In the hot, dry season which is happening now, Wodaabe women often leave the country, traveling south to Nigeria, Benin, Togo or Ivory Coast, or west to Mali to sell their traditional […]
Our first local training mission in Iferouane
The only way to insure that our matrone training program continues in the long-term is to turn it over to local staff. We have been inching toward this for many years. The biggest step yet was possible when during our last mission we learned that all the essential materials we provide to new trainees […]
Dr. Becky’s thoughts on the 2019 mission
One of the most satisfying aspects of our missions is to observe nomadic women helping one another achieve better health and safer pregnancies. Each year their achievements grow along with their confidence and knowledge. In addition, it is always an enormous pleasure to reconnect with our nomad friends and colleagues despite the limitations in direct […]
